We had a lovely flight on Continental from Newark to Heathrow. After sandwiches at the central bus station in the airport and one of the most divine cappuccinos I have ever had (Caffè Nero - which should replace every Starbucks in the U.S.), we climbed onto a National Express Coach to Newmarket, where our cousins Alan and Maggie met us.
Alan's grandmother and Marty's grandmother were sisters and I found Alan 6 years ago on the Internet when I was doing a geneaology search. This is our third visit with them and we just adore them! Tonight, another cousin is coming to join us and will stay here till Sat, when we all go our separate ways.
After lunch, Alan and Marty took naps and Maggie and I went out for a long walk around the village of Pakenham. 500 villagers, a post office, and a pub.
We had eaten at this pub, The Fox, last time we were here but now it has been bought and they only serve dinner on weekends. So we went to a different The Fox in another town for last night's dinner. No relation; apparently this is a very common name for a pub.
I thought this bush in front of the house was a blueberry bush, but it is something else, the name of which I can't remember.
The cottages are charming - here is Maggie, clowning in front of one and I don't think she realized I captured her on camera.
This is a day late getting posted because when we got back from dinner at The (other) Fox, my battery had died. I was quite upset because it had been plugged in and I could not figure out what had caused it. Oh, NO! I thought the difference in current had done it, and I finally thought maybe it was a bad outlet. But Maggie said she plugs her computer in the same outlet - no problem.
Fortunately, there was an Apple store in Bury St. Edmunds, so we headed over there this morning. They plugged in the computer and it started to charge immediately. Turns out that apparently in England, outlets have on/off switches and if nobody is using an outlet, they turn it off. Someone had switched off the outlet and of course, never having heard I such a thing, how would I know? Problem solved - thank goodness!
7 comments:
What a great trip - when you get to visit relatives and do a quilt show venue.
I believe the bush is a Leatherleaf Mahonia (they're quite common in North Carolina).
Wish I was there
Glad you're enjoying England. Have to disagree about the power outlets though. You do have on/off switches for some of them over in North America - they're just disquised as light switches - they've fooled me many a time.
So far away - across the country and over the pond. The plant could be one of several mahonia varieties - I'd guess mahonia repens, which grows wild in Oregon and has the common name Oregon Grape. It is the state flower of Oregon. England? Oregon? Doesn't matter - my feet are itching to go.
Agree--Mahonia, which we call Oregon Grape. My yard is full of it. How nice to be in England--I'm envious!
Do you mean they let the electricity just dribble out of your power outlets in the US? See you soon. Am in Seoul tonight - London tomorrow.
Post a Comment